Meryl Streep may soon have more Emmys than Oscars

Matthew Stewart
·4 min read
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It’s a well-known fact that Meryl Streep is the most Oscar-nominated actor of all time, with 21 bids (and three wins) dating as far back as 1978. What many may not realize, however, is that her storied history with the film academy began after she had already clinched an Emmy for her lead performance on the NBC miniseries “Holocaust.” Indeed, she has won as many Emmys as she has Oscars, and she could soon nab at least a fourth TV trophy since her upcoming projects include Apple TV+’s “Extrapolations” and Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building.”

Before she received her first Emmy, Streep made her small screen debut opposite John Lithgow in a 1977 installment of PBS’s “Great Performances,” entitled “Secret Service.” This was essentially a filmed stage play presented as a two-hour movie. Her first proper telefilm was “The Deadliest Season,” in which she portrayed the wife of a hockey player charged with manslaughter. Her co-star in that case was Michael Moriarty, who also went on to win an Emmy for “Holocaust.”

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After she bagged her first two Oscars for “Kramer vs. Kramer” (supporting, 1979) and “Sophie’s Choice” (lead, 1982), Streep spent the next 15 years focusing on her film career while occasionally lending her voice to small screen projects. In the early 1990s, she narrated such programs as “American Masters,” “Voices That Care” and “A Century of Women.” She also played Bart Simpson’s first girlfriend, Jessica Lovejoy, on “The Simpsons” in 1994 and Bill Dauterive’s eccentric Aunt Esme on “King of the Hill” in 1999.

In 1997, Streep picked up her second Best TV Movie/Limited Series Actress Emmy nomination for the telefilm “First Do No Harm,” in which she portrayed a mother coming to terms with her son’s severe epilepsy. After losing on that outing to Alfre Woodard (“Miss Evers’ Boys”), she conquered the category again in 2004 as one of the stars of “Angels in America.” Her performance as several different characters on the HBO miniseries also earned her a Golden Globe and her first Screen Actors Guild Award.

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Around the time of her second Best Actress Oscar victory for 2011’s “The Iron Lady,” Streep appeared in three webisodes and two traditional installments of “Web Therapy” with Lisa Kudrow. She then won her third Emmy in 2017 for narrating the Netflix documentary series “Five Came Back.” This made her the first (and, to date, only) female recipient of the Best Narrator award, which was first bestowed by the TV academy in 2014.

Streep’s fifth and most recent Emmy mention came in 2020 for her supporting turn on the drama series “Big Little Lies,” which constituted her first regular role on a continuing program. She was bested in that case by Julia Garner (“Ozark”). In the past decade, she has also made vocal contributions to limited series like “Makers: Women Who Make America,” “The Roosevelts” and “The U.S. and the Holocaust.”

Streep’s work on “Extrapolations” and “Only Murders in the Building” could conceivably bring her notices in two new Emmy categories. As a member of the former’s large ensemble, which includes Daveed Diggs, Kit Harington and Keri Russell, she is a possible candidate for a Best TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actress nomination. The size of her comedic role in the third season of “Only Murders” is unconfirmed, so she could wind up competing as a guest star or a supporting player.

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